SafeTKBlog

Keep up with the latest news and projects from the team at SafeTK.

Electronic Permit to Work Systems with TK Products

 

The TK Family of Products are designed to create and maintain safer work environments through the use of Electronic Permit to Work systems. Permitting, energy isolations, LOTOs and risk assessments are essential in any organization’s daily processes and directly affect the safety of your colleagues and the success of your company. The systems and processes in which you work should help to shoulder that burden, rather than make it heavier. It should be easy and fast for you and your colleagues to go through routine safety tasks – without compromising on attention to details and accuracy.

In recent years as technology advances, there has been a growing trend in moving maintenance processes from traditional pen-and-paper methods to more modern digital systems. There are many important reasons why this change is taking place. Chief among these reasons being that storing and interacting with information digitally leads to a far more efficient and safer permitting process.

Before throwing the traditional methods out of the window and transitioning to an electronic Permit to Work(ePtW) system, it is important to understand why an increasing number of maintenance professionals are dissatisfied with traditional paper methods. In industrial environment where safety and efficiency are vital, paper-based safety process often fail to meet the modern demands of workers. Stilwell & Associates have worked to create a family of TK Products to meet the safety needs of a multitude of industries.

 

SafeTK®

The dragon of all workflow applications, a web-based application accessible via browser, providing “in the field” access utilizing any device. Perform Job Hazard Analyses, identification of isolation points, and even log various data all while on location.

SafeTK® is an all-inclusive workflow lifecycle management SaaS, tailored to the needs of safety permitting and the various sectors that may need an ePtW process for their company. Accessible via the web, smart phone, or tablet, SafeTK® was created to further streamline your business’s day-to-day activities through its highly developed Application Programming Interface (API). It is through this API that your CMMS, work management, EAM, or virtually any system can fully integrate with SafeTK® . Based on your company’s needs, the API allows for utilization of “Read” or “Write” access to ensure the data you need is right at your fingertips.

SafeTK® can be fully customized and configured to fit into any safety permitting process you may have. SafeTK® breaks every process down into a hierarchy so that the user can track any and all functions of the company’s business practices, ensuring they are performed properly each and every time. With our dedicated team of specialists, the SafeTK® team is ready to assist with configuring and fully implementing each and every process you’d like to electronically utilize within the application.

At every step in the permitting process, there may be varying groups who are allowed to perform certain actions. With every single function and action inside the application controlled by permissions, you can ensure that every individual is able to perform their particular duties each day.

 

TK Pro® 

The Safety Permitting one-stop shop. House all of your safety permitting processes, LOTO, Hot Work, Confined Space, etc. in one place and stay in compliance with electronic housekeeping and a full audit trail.

Safety Permitting systems are key to ensuring the safe execution of hazardous work activities at working facilities. Permitting procedures are usually backed by a Job Hazard Analysis process and a range of related procedural steps for risk-related activities such as confined space, hot work, etc. Different activities require distinct processes and approvals which must be practiced by personnel. The vast majority of operational facilities currently use handwritten paper PtW procedures and forms.

TK Pro® has the permit request and JHA processes fully integrated, allowing the permit request and JHA to be related, prepared, and submitted in just minutes with no need to physically deliver the paperwork

In most safety permitting processes, the first step is the permit request and the corresponding JHA for the function to be completed. In some cases, this includes completing a permit request form, completing the JHA, and then conveying the completed forms to a supervisor or permit-authority. This task alone can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more. TK Pro® has the permit request and JHA processes fully integrated, allowing the permit request and JHA to be related, prepared, and submitted in just minutes with no need to physically deliver the paperwork. Additionally, at this stage there is no need for physical paperwork because work requests and JHAs can be prepared and submitted online.

TK Pro® can deliver time savings of 60% to 85% for this one activity alone. What once took 20 to 30 minutes can be reduced to as little 3 minutes for each permit request. This reduction in time is accomplished by limiting the time spent typing through the use of drop-down lists, integration with CMMS systems and duplicating previous permit requests.

 

TK GO®

TK Go® is a device-agnostic mobile Lockout Tagout platform. Scan barcodes or QR codes to ensure the proper isolation point is being locked out and tagged out, verify placement of tags, and test to ensure full de-energization prior to performing maintenance.

As more and more companies move to mobile safety permitting solutions, one of the primary challenges they face is the decision of which routine responsibilities and functions need to be accessible by the mobile device. As a rule, mobility should increase efficiency rather than create additional labor or ballooning processes – the sole purpose of a mobile solution is to save time.

While a mobile solution creates benefits including reduction in labor hours and streamlined daily activities, the goal of an improved, easy to use workflow must remain a priority for the organization. To be able to deliver value to the customer, a mobile solution must provide a simple and easy to use format. An application that is chocked full of excess buttons and screens creates more opportunities for mistakes and generates more time spent on the process, rather than the work that is needed.

For this reason, it is critical to an organization to have a solution that is designed to meet the individual needs of the business and built to meet the company’s particular operational requirements. As more and more businesses transition to a mobile solution for plant maintenance, the application must be adapted to manage necessary functionality while improving the workflow process and enhancing efficiency.

Adding a mobile application to the maintenance process should be simple and easy. With a rapid and flexible deployment of the application, a business will be able to see and utilize the benefits of the mobile solution.

 

TK Analytics

TK Analytics interfaces directly with your TK Pro® database to provide you with the data to understand what’s taking place at your facility. Whether you want to see how many times a piece of equipment required permits, who is performing the most work, or even comparing between multiple facilities, TK Analytics has all that data ready at your fingertips.

This program features an entire dashboard dedicated to the analytical data of TK Pro® at all of your facilities allowing users to compare permit history between multiple facilities, view live permits, look up assets, components, users, or take a look at a specific permit type’s data. The Administrative Dashboard contains the tools needed to analyze data and identify trends.

This program features an entire dashboard dedicated to the analytical data of TK Pro® at all of your facilities allowing users to compare permit history between multiple facilities, view live permits, look up assets, components, users, or take a look at a specific permit type’s data

TK Analytics enables the examination of permits across multiple facilities allowing a side-by-side comparison, giving users a greater insight as to which facilities require the most permits and what kind of work is performed the most. Dynamic bar graphs create visual trends that enhance the users understanding of safety and asset lifecycles. With TK Analytics, users are also able to view all active permits and easily identify what work is currently being performed.

Easy Lookup allows users to identify what assets are inside of TK Pro®, who created them, and when they were created. Selecting an asset code will yield even more data. Similar to the “Asset Lookup” users are able to identify all the components or isolation points that are inside of TK Pro® and when they were created. Clicking on the component’s code will identify their associated permits or standards

Visually see how many permits and/or standards have been generated against every single asset, the work being performed, and their current status

Component Lookup – Similar to the “Asset Lookup”, you can identify all the components or isolation points that are inside of TK Pro® and when they were created. Clicking on the component’s code will identify their associated permits or standards

User Lookup – Easily see who is generating permits inside of TK Pro® by viewing a list of every single user inside the application. TK Analytics will only show you the modules that are enabled in your database, allowing you to see how many permits each user has created of each type. All users can be selected, giving you the ability to view which permits that particular user performed actions against.

Permit Dashboards – All enabled permit modules have their own dashboard. You can analyze data based on start/end dates, which facility or facilities, and which prefix you’d like to view. Within a given timeframe, you can easily see trends and various data points based on the parameters you choose.

 

TK Procedures

Placard-based Lockout Tagout Procedures which allows for pictures to be utilized for identifying isolation points, and ensuring that equipment is locked out the correct way, each and every time.

With innovative graphical procedures replacing outdated text-based procedures, authorized personnel are now able to detect breakers for remote disconnects in far less time. In many cases, when an authorized worker was assigned with locking out equipment infrequently serviced, merely identifying the accurate electrical disconnect could take hours, prolonging equipment downtime, and the administrative burden, tracing disconnects and then verifying the disconnects until arriving at the proper one.

Detailed graphical procedures mean training new personnel takes a fraction of the time with easy-to-understand procedures that are simple to follow and visual aids such as permanent energy source ID tags that are mounted at each corresponding energy source isolation point.

TK Procedures delivers an end-to-end solution, which means we can join in and assist at any period of your LOTO program development. Trust in our team of industry professionals to work with you to generate a maintainable and compliant safety program.

Generally, Safety Directors and Managers look for a software solution that will integrate with the existing safety permitting process. These solutions will identify, extract, and import data or information that’s available, all the while seeking to streamline and enhance the overall process. Beginning with the available information brings safety processes and documents to life, ensuring compliance with each and every stage of the safety document life-cycle. Intuitive tools and features guide personnel along the way to generating safe and compliant documentation for every job. As technology evolves, safety managers look for a partner that will meet the ever-changing needs of the business, such as allowing system tweaks to respond quickly to changes.

Toll Free: 1-877-TAGOUT-1

Product Demo: 757-340-9895

Email: sales@stilwell-associates.com